Tag: Marben Bland

Recently, Bill Gates pledged fifty million dollars of his own money in a quest to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. Mr. Gates cited the growing economic and emotional toll Alzheimer’s has on families worldwide for the reason for his contribution.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2017 Americans spent $259 billion caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

The Alzheimer’s Association also estimates that you have a nearly 50 percent chance of developing the disease if you live into your mid-80s. Research indicates African Americans and Latinos are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer’s.

I am certain many of you reading this post know of a friend or family member with Alzheimer’s.

In my family both of my grandmothers and an aunt have died of complications from Alzheimer’s. My mother is in the final stages of a decade long battle with the disease which has now also gripped two of her sisters.

As Mr. Gates noted despite the increase in disease scientists have yet to figure out what exactly causes Alzheimer’s or how to stop the disease from destroying the brain.

Finding A Cure – Three Things We Can We Do?

The 50 million given by Mr. Gates will go to the Dementia Discovery Fund a private fund working to diversify the clinical pipeline for Alzheimer’s treatment.

While you and I may not be able to drop 50 million we can become part of drive for a cure. Check out three things we can do.

One: Inform Yourself About Alzheimer’s

Our friends at Alzheimers.net have a wonderful infographic that you can share on your favorite social media site — simply use the one-click buttons at the top of the page. The infographic includes effective ways you can join the fight against the disease, from joining clinical trials to writing your congressperson. We hope you’ll find it a great tool for raising awareness. And, after learning and sharing, it’s just one more step to start doing.

Two: Participate in National Memory Screening

The National Memory Screening event aims to provide free memory tests with the goal of early detection and treatment for those showing signs of cognitive impairment. You can be a source of encouragement and strength for friends, family and loved ones simply by participating, but if you would like to do more to raise awareness, host or visit a site near you. The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America provides the materials, and you locate a willing health care professional to administer the testing. Visit their website for more information.

Three: Make a Donation to an Alzheimer’s Organization

There are truly so many ways to donate, and there are numerous opportunities listed on the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America web pages, if you need a place to start. You can simply donate money online and it will go towards the fight to end Alzheimer’s, but there are other ways to donate, too — you can donate stock or an old car and receive some tax benefits to boot; you can donate to the cause of a participant in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s; you can plan a bequest in your will; and much more.

It’s Time For A Cure

Alzheimer’s is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States and it is the only one without any meaningful treatments that are reversing the trend.

Bill Gates knows that a person with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia spends five times more every year out-of-pocket on healthcare than a senior without a neurodegenerative condition.

Bill Gates knows that unlike those with many chronic diseases, people with Alzheimer’s incur long-term care costs as well as direct medical expenses that will last for decades.

Bill Gates knows how difficult it is to watch a loved ones suffer from cognitive decline and slowly disappear.

I agree with Bill Gates, let’s cure Alzheimer’s

Marben Bland, is the pastor of Hall Chapel and Mitchell Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Sparta, Georgia and is the Chairperson for the Handcock Health Improvement Partnership. Read more of his posts at www.marbenbland.com

Harvey Weinstein, Mark Halperin, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly – the very names of these very accomplished men have become linked to sexual harassment, a heinous act that these men callously did over and over again.

For the very few famous men who have been caught, there are many more silent situations where women and some men have been, and continue to be subjected to, unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

The deployable habits of these men, clergy, coaches, teachers, supervisors, and even presidents, who use positions of power, positions of trust, and positions of superior physical strength to impose their demented form of pleasure on others, is in no way condoned by God.

Many may be surprised that the word of God is not silent about the wrongness of sexual harassment, the evilness of sexual assault, and the depravity of rape. God makes it abundantly clear that when these malicious acts are committed, ultimately, they will not go unpunished.

In Genesis 34, when Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was violated by the son of a neighboring ruler, her brothers murdered the rapist, killed his father, and all the men of his city out of revenge.

Joshua 19-21 tells the story of the unnamed concubine was gang-raped, and left for dead by men of the tribe of Benjamin. In hearing of this injustice, the other tribes went to war against them destroying houses and taking land.

After Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amnon, 2 Samuel 13 tells us that Tamar’s Brother, Absalom killed Amnon, and incited a rebellion against his father, King David.

God is grieved by sexual harassment, and all forms of injustice. While many have suffered and many more will suffer from sexual harassment, we, the disciples of Christ must know that God sees what is going on.

As we have seen in Scripture, these acts of evil will be avenged one day. Perhaps not in my lifetime, but hopefully in the lifetime of my Granddaughters. As Martin Luther King, Jr. would often say paraphrasing Amos 5:24 “Justice will roll down like waters,”
and righteousness will come like an ever-flowing stream.

In the meantime, as disciples of Christ we should consider doing these four things:

Go to the Lord in prayer, and ask for healing for the victims, deliverance for those who are bound, and forgiveness for those who are the harassers.

Search ourselves to identify any tendencies of sexual harassment, hate and bigotry, and when we find them, ask the Lord to blot them out.

Speak out whenever we witness, or are victims of sexual harassment. “Me too” must become more than a hashtag. It must become the mantra for all our actions.

Harvey Weinstein, Mark Halperin, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly – these are the names we know, but there are many more who we do not know. The past, and even our present may seem dark as allegations of sexual harassment continue to mount. However, we can take comfort that God is in control, and one day, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess the evil acts of sexual harassment and that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Some folks including a big important man who lives in a white house, who makes big speeches all over in places like the United Nations and Alabama, and then tweets about it.

This big important man is saying that folks should not take a knee especially if they are a football player, especially if they are exercising a first amendment right that service members including this writer served for, especially if they do it while national anthem is being played.

Psalm 95:6 tells us Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

So today before a speech or a tweet can catch up with me I am going to take a knee.

I am going to take a knee and pray for the people of Puerto Rico. United States Citizens who could be without power for months ahead, all while the commander in chief keeps tweeting that everything is going well.

I am going to take a knee and pray for the saints at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, near Nashville, where a man opened fire as church was letting out last week, killing one person and injuring seven others.

I am going to take a knee to ask God’s guidance and intercession regarding the opioid crisis. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 90 Americans die day every day, after overdosing on opioids.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin along with prescription pain relievers as fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.

I am going to take a knee and pray to thank the Lord for his goodness, his grace and his love.

I am going to take a knee often today and every day:

To pray for people in need.
To pray for situations of despair
To pray for justice
To pray for peace
To pray for the man in the white house who likes to tweet

I am going to take a knee because the Word of the Lord says in Romans 14:11-12

For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

I am going to take a knee
I am going to take a knee.

Please like and more importantly share this post! Marben Bland is the pastor of Hall Chapel and Mitchell Chapel AME Church in Sparta, Georgia. He is also a second year seminarian at Columbia Theological Seminary.

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We have all seen the destruction; we have all seen the determination; we have all seen the death; it has all been revealed this week in Houston.

In Genesis 9:8-17, God promised not to destroy the earth again by flood and in that same act, the Lord established a new covenant.

God’s New Covenant is the promise that He will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant, and His death on the cross is the basis of the promise (Luke 22:20).

The New Covenant was predicted while the Old Covenant was still in effect — the prophets Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all allude to the New Covenant.

The flood waters of Houston revealed the spirit of the New Covenant. God’s people, from first responders to ordinary citizen volunteers, heeded the teaching of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The flood waters of Houston also revealed the evil spirit of greed, pride and hypocritical actions that impeded opportunities for rescue, recovery and shelter. However, the Good News is this: all these actions of people can be washed away, and made right by the New Covenant.

The flood waters of Houston will also provide healing because of the New Covenant. For these nearly countless days of displacement, discouragement, and death will be replaced by lives of recovery and renewal.

After the forty days and nights that produced the floods that destroyed the earth, God told Noah that He would put a rainbow in the clouds, as a sign of the New Covenant.

As cloudy and dark these days of rain and flood may seem, the people in Houston and all of us can take comfort for that rainbow. For even in the middle of the storm, the goodness, grace and mercy of God is revealed. The rain will eventually stop, the earth will not be destroyed, and the New Covenant of God with salvation for all is being revealed.

May God bless the people of Houston and all who have been effective by the revealing waters of Harvey.

The first day of school is filled with magic, wonder and excitement about the educational process.

Nelson Mandela described education as the most powerful weapon that a person can use to change the world.

However, as the excitement of the first day of school turns into the routine of days and days at school, the power of education can be deluded.

• The power of education can be deluded by underpaid and overwhelmed teachers, forced to operate in a system more focused on test scores instead of real learning.
• The power of education can be deluded by inattentive parents who see school as a low-tech babysitter. They are so distracted by their own lives that they can care less for the lives of their children.
• The power of education can be deluded by run downed, underfunded, and poorly led school districts.

God wants and expects education to be provided to His children.

Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Deuteronomy 6:7 reminds us that “We should teach diligently to our children.”

Psalm 127:3 lets us know to that “children are a heritage from the Lord.” As our children return to school, we think of this heritage, and we pray the prayer of Jabez.

In his prayer detailed in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, Jabez asked the Lord for four things, that all of us who love and care for our children should pray for as well.

First, Jabez asked for God’s blessings.

Our children need God’s blessings on the school bus.
Our children need God’s blessings in the lunchroom.
Our children need God’s blessings in the classroom.

Our children also need God’s blessings at home.

In a lot of homes, Diva Mama have replaced Big Mama, and there is no replacement for the absentee Daddy.

Secondly, Jabez asked for an enlargement of his territory, and an increase his responsibility.

We can pray for our children’s territory to increase, and help them by:

Requiring our children to attend school every day. Petty complaints of sickness should not be encouraged. No excuses! Whatever happened to striving for perfect attendance?

We can pray for our children’s territory to increase, and help them by:

Demanding that our children obey, behave, and pay attention in school. No suspensions, no trips to the principal’s office, no trouble.

We can pray for our children’s territory to increase, and help them by:

Doing all we can to encourage our children to not just get good grades, but great grades! If they made D’s and F’s last year, we can let them know we are expecting A’s and B’s this year.

The territory of our children can and will increase when we pray for that increase, when we guide them, and we let them know that we expect more from them, and from ourselves this year.

The third thing that Jabez prayed for was for God to be with him, and to stay close to him.

• As adults, we must help keep our children close to God.
• We should talk with them and not at them.
• We should listen to them and acknowledge that they have things to say. They should know that we value what they say, and we are listening to them.
• We should pray with and for them.

Lastly, Jabez asked God to keep him from harm, and free from pain.

Our children will experience pain because of the harmful presences in this world. They need to be protected from bullying, from drugs, and all the difficulties associated with growing up.

We must be at the vanguard of prayer for our children. We must pray for them nonstop, as they face the challenges and opportunities that education can provide.

So, during these first days of this new school year:

• We should be like Jabez, and pray for God’s protection for our children.
• We should be Like Jabez, and pray for God to bless our children.
• We should be Like Jabez, and ask God to enlarge the territory of our children while increasing their responsibility.

Godspeed and blessings for the teachers, staff and children, as we start this new school year.

Marben Bland is the pastor of Hall Chapel AME Church and Mitchell Chapel AME Church in Sparta, GA for more of his writings go to www.marbenbland.com

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What’s in it for me, is often a question we ask ourselves when faced with questions and situations from the serious to the sublime.

Faced with impending death on the cross, Jesus understood “what was in it for Him” as he prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. As Christ asked, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me?”

Despite knowing what was in it for Him – a painful, shameful, and awful death on the cross – Jesus still said to God, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

As Christians, we often want to ask God the question, “What’s in it for me?” We ask this question, especially:

When we are asked to give more time or money than we feel comfortable in giving.

When we are commanded to love that neighbor that is difficult to love.

When we face the death of a love one who died too soon, or in a way that we cannot understand or accept.

What’s In It For Me?
What’s In It For Me?
What’s In It For Me?

When we follow the will of the Lord, the question is simply answered by what Jesus said in the garden: “Your will Lord, not mine.”

Jesus in John 15:7-8 says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask and whatever you desire, it shall be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Abide is an Old English word signifying progressively to “await, remain, lodge, sojourn, dwell, continue, and endure.”

In this passage Jesus is telling us that if we abide in Him, thereby, following God’s will not our will, then “Whatever we desire it shall be done for us.”

So by doing God’s Will – whatever is in it for me – God will make it happen for me!

Think of it this way:

If What’s In It For You Is: Financial Freedom, then follow God’s will and you will get it.

If What’s In It For You Is: The repair of a relationship between you and a love one, then follow God’s will and you will get it.

If What’s In It For You Is: A Job, A Marriage, A Car, A House, or even an Ice Cream Sandwich, then follow God’s will and you will get it.

When Jesus gave us the answer “Your will Lord, not mine,” to the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Jesus also demonstrated through His death and glorious resurrection, that God really and truly knows what is best for you and for me.

God showed us His love because the Lord gave us His only Son to save us and redeem us. … Why? Because only God could truly answer the question…… “What’s in it for me?”